Bank employee held for 'hiring contract killer to murder BMC sub-engineer for ending extramarital affair'

Police arrested a 32-year-old woman, working as an assistant manager in a nationalised bank, for allegedly conspiring to kill a sub-engineer employed with the BMC. The woman and the sub-engineer were in an extramarital affair, and when the man ended the relationship, the woman arranged for a contract killer from Odisha to kill him, police said. Timely intervention by the police, however, helped save the man's life.

According to police, both were married, but the woman wanted to divorce her husband and marry the BMC employee.

An investigator said the man, however, was not interested in marrying her, which would often lead to heated arguments and, during a recent argument two months ago, the sub-engineer had abused and insulted her.

An officer from Matunga police station said the man went on to block her and cut all ties with her due to which the woman became upset. 'She then got in touch with a contract killer from Odisha through a person based out of Uttar Pradesh,' said Senior Inspector Vijaysingh Ghatge.

Police have identified the contract killer as Vijay Pradhan, 24, a BSc graduate from Odisha, who came to Mumbai on November 6.

Police said Pradhan and the woman did a recce near the man's residence for two days, following which the woman called him near Dadar railway station to hand him a weapon.

'We noticed their suspicious movement outside Dadar station, and took them to the police station,' said an investigator, adding that we recovered the weapon along with five rounds of bullets.

Police said the duo confessed that they were planning to kill a BMC sub-engineer for breaking up with the woman, and that she had promised Rs 1 lakh to Pradhan after he had killed the man. 'They planned to kill him near his residence on Monday (November 9),' an officer said.

Police said they were trying to identify the person who provided the weapon, while the investigators also said they were trying to locate the man from UP who got the woman in touch with Pradhan.

A case was registered under relevant sections of the Arms Act, along with the Maharashtra Police Act. The accused were produced before Kurla court and remanded in police custody till November 12.

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